GK · Chapter 12

Indian Defence and Security

Defence Structure · Paramilitary Forces · Missiles · Warships · Tanks · Aircraft

Defence Structure

Supreme Commander of Defence Forces: President of India
Ministry of Defence — supreme policy maker in Defence; Head: Defence Minister

Department under MoD	Notes
Department of Defence (DOD)	—
Department of Defence Production	—
Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare	—
Department of Defence Research and Development	—
Department of Military Affairs	Head: Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)

⚡ QUICK RECALL First CDS: General Bipin Rawat. Current CDS: General N. S. Raja Subramani (September 2026 snapshot).

DRDO & Armed Forces

DRDO established 1958; HQ: New Delhi; Head: Secretary, DDR&D and Chairman, DRDO
First Head: Dr. D.S. Kothari; Current Head: Dr. Rajesh Kumar Singh, IAS (additional charge; September 2026)
Indian Armed Forces have three branches: Army, Navy, Air Force — HQ of all three located in New Delhi

Branch	Highest Officer
Army	Chief of the Army Staff
Navy	Chief of the Naval Staff
Air Force	Chief of the Air Staff

Ranks of Commissioned Officers

Army	Navy	Air Force
Field Marshal	Admiral of the Fleet	Marshal of the Air Force
General	Admiral	Air Chief Marshal
Lieutenant General	Vice Admiral	Air Marshal
Major General	Rear Admiral	Air Vice Marshal
Brigadier	Commodore	Air Commodore
Colonel	Captain	Group Captain
Lieutenant Colonel	Commander	Wing Commander
Major	Lieutenant Commander	Squadron Leader
Captain	Lieutenant	Flight Lieutenant
Lieutenant	Sub-Lieutenant	Flying Officer

⚠ EXAM TRAP "Captain" means different rank levels across services — a senior rank in the Navy (equivalent to Colonel) but a junior rank in the Army. Don't assume equal seniority across branches.

Military Commands and Headquarters

Army Command	HQ
Northern	Udhampur
Southern	Pune
Eastern	Kolkata
Western	Chandimandir
Central	Lucknow
South-Western	Jaipur
Training Command	Shimla

Navy Command	HQ
Southern	Kochi
Eastern	Visakhapatnam
Western	Mumbai
Officer Training	Ezhimala, Kerala
Seaman Training	INS Chilika, Odisha

Air Force Command	HQ
Southern	Thiruvananthapuram
Eastern	Shillong
Western	New Delhi
South-Western	Gandhinagar
Central	Prayagraj
Maintenance	Nagpur
Training	Bengaluru

⚡ QUICK RECALL The supreme officer of each military command is called the "Officer Commanding-in-Chief."

Training Institutes

Army Institute	Location
National Defence Academy (NDA)	Khadakwasla
Indian Military Academy (IMA)	Dehradun
Officers Training Academy (OTA)	Chennai
National Defence College	New Delhi
Defence Service Staff College	Wellington
School of Artillery	Deolali, Maharashtra
Infantry School	Mhow
College of Defence Management	Secunderabad
Indian National Defence University	Binola, Gurugram

Naval Institute	Location
Indian Naval Academy (INA)	Ezhimala, Kerala
INS Chilka	Bhubaneswar, Odisha
INS Hamla	Malad, Mumbai
INS Mandovi	Goa
INS Valsura	Jamnagar, Gujarat
INS Satavahana	Visakhapatnam
Naval Shipwright School	Visakhapatnam

Air Force Institute	Location
Air Force Administrative College	Coimbatore
Air Force Technical College	Jalahalli
Institute of Aviation Medicine	Bengaluru
Air Force Academy	Hyderabad
Elementary Flying School	Bidar
Paratroopers Training School	Agra

India's Internal Security Forces

Force	Established	HQ	Role
Assam Rifles	1835	Shillong	India–Myanmar border and North-East internal security; "Sentinel of the North-East"
Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)	1939	New Delhi	Assists in internal law and order
National Cadet Corps (NCC)	1948	—	Motto: Unity and Discipline
Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)	1962	New Delhi	Prevents cross-border infiltration
Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB)	1963	New Delhi	Guards Nepal & Bhutan borders
Border Security Force (BSF)	1965	New Delhi	Guards International Borders of India
Central Industrial Security Force (CISF)	1969	New Delhi	Security of Central Government properties
Indian Coast Guard	1 February 1977	New Delhi	Maritime law enforcement, EEZ/coastal security, safety and rescue
National Security Guard (NSG)	1984	New Delhi	Known as 'Black Cat'; counter-terrorism operations
Special Protection Group (SPG)	1985	New Delhi	PM and resident immediate family; former PM and resident immediate family for five years under the 2019 law
Rapid Action Force (RAF)	1992	New Delhi	Specialised wing of CRPF

⚠ EXAM TRAP Assam Rifles (1835) is the OLDEST paramilitary force in India — much older than CRPF (1939), often wrongly assumed to be the oldest due to its wider recognition.

Public Sector Defence Companies

Company	HQ	Key Products
Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers	Kolkata	Warships & naval vessels; Shipping, Engineering, Engine Manufacturing departments
Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL)	Bengaluru	Electronics equipment for armed & paramilitary forces
Goa Shipyard Limited	Vasco da Gama, Goa	Defence ships, landing crafts, patrol vessels
Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd. (MDL)	Mumbai	India's largest shipbuilder; offshore oil well platforms; acquired by Govt. in 1960
Bharat Earth Movers Ltd. (BEML)	Bengaluru	Railway coaches, bridges, heavy equipment, trucks, diesel engines
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)	Bengaluru	Fighter aircraft, helicopters, engine components
Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL)	Hyderabad	Missile production — Prithvi, Akash, Trishul, Nag

⚠ EXAM TRAP HAL's headquarters is in BENGALURU, not Mumbai — commonly confused with MDL (Mazagon Dock), which IS headquartered in Mumbai.

Missile Development Programme (IGMDP)

Programme: Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme; started 1983
Father of Indian Missile Technology: Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
Developed five core missiles under the programme: Prithvi, Agni, Trishul, Akash, Nag

Prithvi Variant	Test Year	Range	Type
Prithvi-I	1988, Chandipur	150 km	Surface-to-Surface; First Indigenous Missile
Prithvi-II	First tested 1996	About 350 km class	Surface-to-surface ballistic missile
Dhanush (Prithvi family)	Naval member: Dhanush	About 350 km	Ship-launched surface-to-surface ballistic missile

Agni Variant	Test Year	Range
Agni-I	2002 (1989: earlier technology demonstrator)	About 700–1,250 km
Agni-II	First tested 1999	About 2,000 km class
Agni-III	First attempted 2006; successful 2007	More than 3,000 km
Agni-IV	2011	Up to 4000 km (Long Range)
Agni-V	First tested 2012	Publicly stated range: more than 5,000 km
Agni-VI	No confirmed operational designation announced	Quoted ranges speculative as of September 2026

Trishul, Akash & Nag Missiles

Missile	Details
Trishul	An indigenous short-range surface-to-air missile programme under IGMDP — about 9 km class; it later served mainly as a technology demonstrator
Akash	Akash is a surface-to-air missile system; the legacy Akash uses a solid-fuel integral ramjet and has an engagement range of about 25 km
Nag	Third-generation anti-tank guided missile with fire-and-forget capability; ground-launched Nag has about 4 km range

Other Major Missiles

Missile	Type / Description
Prahaar	Surface-to-Surface; indigenously developed by DRDO
Shaurya	Surface-to-Surface; land version of K-15 (Sagarika)
Astra	Air-to-air missile
Dhanush	Naval version of Prithvi; Surface-to-Surface
BrahMos	India-Russia joint project; supersonic cruise missile; Fire & Forget; named after Brahmaputra (India) and Moskva (Russia)
Pinaka	Named after Lord Shiva's bow; multi-barrel rocket launcher; Range: 40–90 km
Sagarika / K-15 / B-05	India's first nuclear-capable SLBM; tested 2008
Barak-8	India–Israel joint surface-to-air family; air defence against aircraft, UAVs and incoming guided missiles

⚡ QUICK RECALL BrahMos gets its name from TWO rivers: Brahmaputra (India) and Moskva (Russia) — reflecting the joint India-Russia development.

India's Major Radars

Swati
Indra-I
Indra-II
Rohini
Revathi
Arudhra

Military Aircraft

Aircraft	Key Details
Tejas	A 4.5-generation, single-engine, all-weather multirole light combat aircraft; designed by ADA and manufactured by HAL
Nishant	An indigenous DRDO-developed tactical unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), designed for surveillance and reconnaissance with catapult launch and parachute recovery
Sukhoi-30 MKI	Russian-origin twin-engine multirole fighter; licence-produced and overhauled in India by HAL
Dhruv	An indigenous twin-engine Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) developed and manufactured by HAL for military and civil multi-role missions
Rafale	A French twin-engine 4.5-generation omnirole fighter built by Dassault Aviation; it is not an 'invisible' stealth aircraft
Mirage 2000	Multi-role fighter; by Dassault Aviation, France
MiG-29	A Russian-origin twin-engine air-superiority/multirole fighter; the IAF has historically operated three MiG-29 squadrons
HTT-40	HAL's indigenously designed HTT-40 is an ab-initio/basic turboprop trainer aircraft

Major Indian Warships / Submarines

Vessel	Category	Key Details
INS Vikrant	Aircraft Carrier	Indigenous; built at Cochin Shipyard; launched 2013
INS Rajput	Guided Missile Destroyer	Manufactured in Ukraine; inducted 1980; decommissioned 2021
INS Viraat	Aircraft Carrier (Oldest)	Purchased from Britain 1987; decommissioned 2017
INS Delhi	Destroyer	Guided missile system; inducted 1997
INS Vikramaditya	Aircraft Carrier	Purchased from Russia 2004; inducted 2013
INS Astradharini	Torpedo Launch & Recovery	Commissioned 2015
INS Arihant	Nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine (SSBN)	First indigenous nuclear-powered submarine; commissioned 2016
INS Karanj (S23)	Submarine — Kalvari Class	Manufactured by MDL; commissioned 2021
INS Visakhapatnam	Destroyer	Project 15B; built by MDL; commissioned 2021
INS Kolkata	Destroyer	Project 15A; MDL; stealth technology; commissioned 2014

Project 75 & Project 17A Vessels

Project 75 — Kalvari Class	Project 17A — Nilgiri Class
INS Kalvari	INS Nilgiri
INS Khanderi	INS Himgiri
INS Karanj	INS Udaygiri
INS Vela	INS Dunagiri
INS Vagir	INS Taragiri
INS Vaghsheer	INS Vindhyagiri
—	INS Mahendragiri

⚡ QUICK RECALL Project 75 = submarines (Kalvari Class, French collaboration). Project 17A = stealth frigates (Nilgiri Class). Don't mix submarine and frigate projects.

Major Tanks

Tank	Details
Arjun Tank	Developed by DRDO/CVRDE — indigenous main battle tank with a 120 mm rifled gun, advanced fire-control and armour protection
Arjun Mk-1A	An upgraded Arjun MBT variant with 72 improvements and higher indigenous content; 118 tanks were ordered in 2021
Nag (Anti-Tank Missile)	Third-generation; can target objects up to 4 km
Bhishma / T-90	Purchased from Russia; can fire missiles up to 4 km; protects against landmines; manufactured at Avadi, Chennai
Bhim artillery project	A 155 mm/52-calibre self-propelled tracked artillery system developed around an Arjun tank chassis; it was not a separate main battle tank
MUNTRA unmanned ground-vehicle family	A DRDO/CVRDE unmanned ground-vehicle family based on the tracked BMP-II platform, with surveillance, mine-detection and CBRN-reconnaissance variants

⚡ QUICK RECALL First indigenous 155mm gun (Bofors-type) manufactured by TATA Group — can fire six rounds at a 40 km target in under three minutes.

Quick Reference Summary

Supreme Commander of DefencePresident of India

Current CDSN. S. Raja Subramani (September 2026 snapshot) (First: Bipin Rawat)

DRDOEstablished 1958; HQ: New Delhi

DRDO Current HeadDr. Rajesh Kumar Singh, IAS (additional charge; September 2026)

IGMDPStarted 1983; Father: Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Father of Indian Missile TechnologyDr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

First Indigenous MissilePrithvi-I (Tested 1988, Chandipur)

BrahMosIndia-Russia joint project; supersonic cruise missile

INS VikrantFirst indigenous aircraft carrier; commissioned 2 September 2022

INS ArihantIndia's first indigenous nuclear submarine (2016)

TejasA 4.5-generation, single-engine, all-weather multirole light combat aircraft; designed by ADA and manufactured by HAL

RafaleFrench twin-engine 4.5-generation omnirole fighter; not an invisible stealth aircraft

Arjun TankIndigenous DRDO/CVRDE main battle tank; 120 mm rifled gun

Muntra TankDRDO/CVRDE BMP-II-based unmanned ground-vehicle family

Bhishma/T-90Purchased from Russia; manufacturing at Avadi, Chennai

NSGKnown as 'Black Cat'; est. 1984; counter-terrorism

BSFEst. 1965; guards International Borders of India

NCC MottoUnity and Discipline

Assam RiflesEst. 1835; "Sentinel of the North-East"

HAL HeadquartersBengaluru

MDL HeadquartersMumbai